♪ ain't nothin to me ♪ keep you down and make you crawl ♪ ♪ ain't nothin to me ♪ cut you down when you feel tall ♪ ♪ ain't nothin to me ♪ ain't nothin to me ♪ ain't nothin to me [ crowd murmurs ] [ cheering ] hey! ♪ ain't nothin to me ♪ ain't nothin to me ♪ [ howls ] ♪ could lose tens of thousands of dollars on their 401(k) to hidden fees. thankfully e-trade has low cost investments and no hidden fees. but, you know, if you're still bent on blowing this fat stack of cash, there's a couple of ways you could do it. ♪ ♪ or just go to e-trade and save it. boom. ♪

all right. time now to talk about what we learned today. richard haass, what did you learn? >> that in some circumstances, in extreme circumstances, the united states might have to consider things like torture. >> fascinating conversation. donny? >> i learned that i'm going to check with sam stein before i sit next to him because he's been coughing and hacking and sneezing all morning. i'm going to come beat him. >> sam, you bothered them. what did you learn today? >> i learned that donny is a ge ger germophobe. >> a good way to end the week. a fascinating discussion today. thanks to you all for joining us. if it's way too early, it's "morning joe. "now it's time for "the daily rundown" and "the fix" is in today. hearing secrets, cia nominee john brennan faces stiff

scrutiny from all sides in tough questioning over drones, waterboarding and leaks. popular vote, hillary clinton is day's removed from public office but a new poll finds her public image soaring. time to put another log on the 2016 speculation fire. and the northeast braces for a giant winter storm that could deliver historic and dangerous amounts of snow combined with gale force winds. the latest update on what to expect in minutes. good morning from washington. it's friday, february 8, 2013, and this is "the daily rundown." from the moment cia nominee john brennan entered his confirmation hearing on thursday, it was clear that the first major public discussion of the obama administration's drone program would be on the combative end, offering a rare public display of democratic dismay with their president a president's policies. after protesters interrupted brennan's opening statement five

times, committee chair dianne feinstein cleared the room leaving it nearly ended as brennan defended the drone program and senators shared their frustrationses. >> with the exception of mr. panetta, i feel i've been drug around by every director. >> 11 united states senators asked to see any and all legal opinions, but when i went to read the opinions this morning, it is not clear that that is what was provided. >> do you happen to know the reason why our staff are not permitted when we are permitted? >> having the executive being the prosecutor, the judge, the jury and the executioner all in one is very contrary to traditions and the laws of this country. >> for the first time dianne feinstein said publicly that the committee will consider the creation of a special court to

oversee evidence against americans who might be targeted by strikes. brennan was also pressed about his evolving answers on enhanced int interrogation methods. >> what steps did you take to stop cia from moving to these techniques you now say you found objectionable at the time? >> i did not take steps to stop the cia's use of those techniques. i was not in the chain of command of that program. i expressed my personal objections and views to some agency colleagues. >> do you have a personal opinion whether water board something torture? >> i have a personal opinion waterboarding is reprehensible and something that should not be done and, again, i am not a lawyer, senator, and i can't address that question. >> nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins us now to talk about a busy day on the hill. kelly, let's start with the brennan hearing. what was fascinating to me is unlike most of these recent hearings we've seen, the criticism came from the president's own party, ron wyden, angus king, what did you

make of it and what was the reaction afterward? were they satisfied with what they heard? >> well, not entirely yet but there were some things that did please them in the fact john brennan seemed to take seriously their concerns about transparency and he said, of course, that will have to be tested if he's confirmed and he can actually demonstrate he's heard them in the job. this has been pressure among democrats building for a while and this hearing gave them a chance to put it all on display which made it striking to have that many frustrated with the white house. when you hear dianne feinstein say why can't staff be involved? they have experts who work on their staff and, you know, if you were handed or i was handed a memo that was complex and we got a chance to read it but then they took it away and no one else could see it, yes, you had some oversight but you really didn't get a chance to study it to make lots of informed questions about it, that sort of thing. so that's part of that appeal.

barbara mikulski said she's been jerked around time and time again. that gives you a window into a frustration where highly trusted members of congress are not getting answers and they let it be known. >> now, kelly, the brennan hearings sort of took up all the oxygen in political washington yesterday, but there was a hearing earlier in the day, senate armed services committee, leon panetta, the outgoing defense secretary, talked about many things but i want to play something about the attack in benghazi and the exchange between he and lindsey graham. >> it lasted almost eight hours. and my question to you is during that eight-hour period it the president show any curiosity about how is this going? what kind of assets do you have helping these people? did he ever make that phone c l call? >> look, there is no question in my mind the president of the united states was concerned about american lives. >> with all due respect, i don't think that's a credible statement if he never called and

asked you, are we helping these people? >> reporter: now in another exchange, because that happened several times not only with graham but other republican senators, graham said no one disputes that the president cares about these people, those who were in harm's way, but the question seemed to become an issue was the president actively involved? graham said during the bin laden raid we saw evidence that the president was very hands-on and here was a case where for the first time in 30 years an american ambassador was missing. there was a direct attack of some kind on a u.s. mission even though they didn't know all the details. so he was trying to press them and both panetta and dempsey said they department speak to the president or to hillary clinton personally. while there is a sort of apparatus in the white house to keep a president informed, they made it clear they weren't talking to anybody at the white house during the hours when this was just really on fire both figu figuratively and literally and graham was making the point no one knew how long the assault would last and so he was raising questions about why wasn't more

military force and readiness available. there's a lot still not understood about benghazi and what happened and certainly people in both parties but we heard a lot from republicans who want to look even more closely even as panetta leaves this job. >> and we heard obviously something that has been a common republ republican refrain. you heard it during the questioning of hillary clinton over benghazi. kelly o'donnell, it's been busy on the hill. thanks for staying on top of it all. >> exactly 40 years ago tomorrow, president obama traveled to elkhart, indiana, to sell his economic stimulus plan. at the time the manufacturing industry had collapsed and nearly one in five people were out of work. the president vowed to carry those stories with him. >> i promised you back then that if elected i would do everything i could to help this community recover, and that's why i came back today, because i intend to keep my promise. >> because of that promise, nbcnews.com began a series

called the elkhart project, tracking their progress. chuck todd checked in with the president. >> reporter: let me show you the front page of the elkhart truth. clearly your presidency now and how it's playing in elkhart and they believe your fortunes. is that fair? >> absolutely f. i'm successful i'll be able to look back and say elkhart has not just come back from the brink but is poised to move forward in the 21st century. >> the elkhart truth. a great newspaper name. fast forward to today. the president can deliver his state of the union address tuesday. elkhart is pretty much still the story of america. things are better but not back to where they were before the economy crashed in 2008. elkhart's unemployment rate is 9.3%, down significantly from its peak in 2009 but still above both the state and national

average. this morning's first read, i love the elkhart project. you know what always happens with these things, the president says it and we forget about it. this is a nice way to track through. how is elkhart doing? is obviously we have our re-elected president of the united states. is it because it was -- the unemployment rate 19.4% in elkhart. december 2012, 9.3%. >> a little bit of a manufacturing rebound. now, still, 9.3% is above the national average. this does tell the story of the economy still being the biggest story that's out there and really kind of underreported almost. it's been under the radar, let's say, because guns and immigration -- >> very true. >> has picked up to be the main things that the president needs to talk about in the first six to eight months of his second term, but the economy still very important and going to -- and

there's still going to be this debate between conservatives and liberals on what to do about it. austerity, something tried worldwide, spending cuts and debt that you've seen public sector growth decline and that's something liberals pushed to to say we need to have more stimulus spending which is something republicans automatically say no way. >> you know, it's fascinating. a lot of talk about the inauguration address and president obama. one thing about his inaugural address, to your point, how little the economy was mentioned. i want to talk quickly house democrats retreat. they get together and sort of talk about where they are. bill clinton set to speak today and stephen colbert. what do you make of it? >> no one quite rallies democrats the way bill clinton does. so there's a little bit of a pep rally feel to something like this and i think that's what bringing in someone like stephen colbert does. but it's fundamentally not serious to have a comedian at something like this. we'll see if he's in

character -- >> right. presents himself as a republican. >> and ribs some democrats. or if he presents himself more what his off camera appearance is. democrats kind of, people forget, dropped the ball having colbert testify at a hearing that became an embarrassment. they need to be careful with a little bit of that. >> thank you. one other point worth mentioning on colbert, his sister elizabeth colbert is running as a democrat for running in the congress in a special election it to replace tim scott. so there is -- >> yeah, the race mark sanford is in. >> mark sanford, ted turner's son -- it is a circus. thank you. now a blizzard of historic proportions is expected to drop three feet, yes, you heard that right, three feet of snow in parts of the northeast along with packing winds of up to 75 miles an hour. already some 2,600 flights are canceled, schools are closed. in transit service suspended

from new york to boston and the snow has barely started to fall. msnbc meteorologist bill karins joins us now. bill, what's the latest? yeah, the snow has moved in. you're talking 70-mile-per-hour wind gusts with three feet of snow. drifts up to five feet high. that's like up to here as we go throughout rhode island and eastern massachusetts. already the radar, the storm is just off virginia beach. the green is the rain. the snow has already broken out in southern portions of new england. and up in north new england, too, a separate storm has brought four fluffy inches up around portland, maine. the main show hasn't even begun there. that shows you how crazy it will be for coastal areas of new england as we go throughout the next 24 hours. bottom line, you're running out of time to make preparations. you will be asked to be off the roads by noon in much of massachusetts, connecticut, and r rhode island where the worst of the storm will be. and you can see the providence area already snow beginning now. as far as what we're going to deal with, as far as the timing of this event, the cold air is in place in northern new

england. all snow for you throughout the entire event from providence to hartford and northward. a little bit of mix is possible in new york city during the day today with rain also there out on long eisland. it will change over to snow later on tonight. if anything, here is how it will look late today. the heavy snow, the snowstorm at full fledged force over new england and then tomorrow morning when everyone wakes up, blizzard conditions, high winds, hurricane force gusts off the coast from cape cord all the way down eastern long island and by saturday night it's all over with. the bottom line is the travel nearly impossible, historic storm. the bull's eye possibly 0 of 24 inches plus from boston to providence. not a bad hit for hartford to portland, maine. chris, in the new york city area talking 6 to 10 inches later on tonight but, again, new york city is the big question mark with this storm. a lot of rain at the beginning of it. >> my hometown is just south of hartford, looks right in the bull's eye. >> easily a foot. >> next, a member of the senate intelligence committee who accused the white house of practicing secret law when it

comes to drone strikes. we'll ask senator ron wyden of oregon if john brennan calmed his fears about the united states targeted killings. but first, a look ahead at today's politics planner. as we mentioned, there it is, 10:00 a.m., bill clinton speaking in leesburg, havevirgi. so if you have a flat tire, dead battery, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geico's emergency roadside assistance is there 24/7. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah? yeah i got it right here. someone help me!!! i have a flat tire!!! well it's good... good for me. what do you think? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

why take exercise so seriously,when it can be fun? push-ups or sprints? what's wrong with fetch? or chase? let's do this larry! ooh, i got it, i got it! (narrator) the calorie-smart nutrition in beneful healthy weight... includes grains and real chicken, because a healthy dog is a playful dog. beneful healthy weight. find us on facebook to help put more play in your day.

what do you think needs to be done to ensure that members of the public understand more about when the government thinks it's allowed to kill them? >> what we need to do is optimize transparency on these

issue but at the same time optimize secrecy and the protection of our national security. i don't think that it's one or the other. it's trying to optimize both of them. >> that was john brennan trying to thread the needle between the government's need to keep covert operations under perhaps and the public's right to know what's going on. it's been a key focus for oregon democratic senator ron wyden, member of the intelligence committee. senator, i know it's a busy time. thank you for taking the time. i want to ask you about that sound bite we just played. are those things an either/oregon both in? can you have increased transparency and sort of keep what needs to be covert covert is this how does that work? nominee brennan suggested it can work and you agree with him. >> absolutely. there's no question we can protect our country in a dangerous time like this and at the same time ensure more transparency and more accountability. and, in fact, that's what our

special system of government is all about . it's about checks and wal balances. the founding fathers thought the president of the united states ought to have extensive power in the national security arena about but it is not unfettered power and striking that balance is the key question. >> senator, i want to play a little sound bite about trust between the white house and congress and let's come back and talk about it. >> if i am confirmed, a trust deficit between the committee and the cia would be wholly unacceptable to me. i like to think that mikan dore and bluntness will reassure you you will get straight answers from me, maybe not always the ones you like, but you will get answers and they will reflect my honest views. >> senator, you've been one of the most high-profile critics of the administration for not giving as much information particularly the legal documentation underpinning the targeting of u.s. citizens. is there a current trust deficit between the senate intelligence committee and the administration, and can someone like john brennan heal it or

not? >> he did move in the right direction in a number of areas. i was very pleased when he said that if a mistake was made on a targeted killing matter, he'd make a public acknowledgement, something like that. i think he did take some steps in the right direction and the president did as well when he called on wednesday night and said he would reverse course and make additional materials available with respect to the legal analysis for targeted killings. i'm still not convinced we have all that we need to do to do our job of vigorous and robust congressional oversight. i made it clear yesterday we need to have that full legal analysis about of the vote. >> now without something as public as a confirmation hearing for the next cia director, how do you keep pressure and focus on the issue? they released the documentation you had been asking for the day before the brennan hearing for fear of potentially of it either being delayed or blocked.

the prospect of a hearing for a cia director, how do you as a member of the senate intelligence committee ensure that you're continuing to use your leverage and power to make more of that information you said hasn't come out yet? >> chris, it is a challenge to have points of leverage and a confirmation hearing is absolutely key. i also did it on the recent intelligence authorization bill. there are provisions there in the name of fighting leaks which would have done great damage to the press. i put a public hold on the bill and those provisions that went too far were dropped. but i do believe this is a critical time for our country. we're trying to figure out a way to apply the principles of checks and balances to modern warfare. that's why it's so important that the committee, and there's bipartisan concern about this, get the documents we requested. >> quickly, senator, have you had any assurances outside of this confirmation hearing with mr. brennan?

have you had any assurances from the administration that your request for more information, for more transparency will be met? >> the president certainly indicated he is committed to that. in fact, in our conversation on wednesday night when he called to say that he was going to reverse course, make these documents available, and i said i was encouraged by that, he said he was going to begin an extensive discussion with the american people on these issues to look at fleshing out how to play the public into the discussion of the guidelines with respect to modern warfare where we can both protect our nation and be true to our principles and our checks and balances. i think that would be very helpful right now to have that discussion. >> ron wyden, member of the senate intelligence committee, thanks for your time. >> thank you. a check on how wall street will close out the week is up next in the market rundown. and a live picture here of milford, connecticut. we're keeping a close eye on the potentially historic storm bearing down on the east coast. millions of people from the great lakes to new england are

in the storm's path. but first, it's today's trivia question. it's a great one. how many women acted as first lady but were not married to the president of the united states? tweet us at daily rundown. the first correct answer gets a follow friday from us. that answer and much, much more coming up. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] it started long ago.

the joy of giving something everything you've got. it takes passion. and it's not letting up anytime soon. if you're eligible for medicare, you might know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help pay some of the difference. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and you never need a referral to see a specialist. so don't wait. call now to request a free decision guide to help you understand medicare. and which aarp medicare supplement plan might work best for you. there's a range to choose from, depending on your needs and your budget.

and they all travel with you -- anywhere in the country. best of all, you'll be joining the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. ♪ remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you'll be able to choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. and you never need referrals. so call now to request a free decision guide and learn more. after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long. with multiple lacerations to the wing and a fractured beak. surgery was successful, but he will be in a cast until it is fully healed,

possibly several months. so, if the duck isn't able to work, how will he pay for his living expenses? aflac. like his rent and car payments? aflac. what about gas and groceries? aflac. cell phone? aflac, but i doubt he'll be using his phone for quite a while cause like i said, he has a fractured beak. [ male announcer ] send the aflac duck a get-well card at getwellduck.com. the snow has begun to fall in some parts of the northeast, but the worst is yet to come. 30 inches of snow or more is expected in boston which will likely get the brunt of the storm. a foot or more is expected from hartford, connecticut, to portland, maine. at least 3,700 flights have been canceled ahead of the storm. away from the weather for a moment, we're just minutes away from the opening bell on wall street, so let's get the market r rundown. cnbc's andrew ross-s 0 sorkin

joins us. >> airlines watching these storms, 3,700 airlines, may have jumped to 3,900 airplane canceled so we're going to see what happens there. right now, though, stocks have not moved. traditionally, though, depending on where the weather -- we're early in the year. if, for example, this happened and we had a number of storms that would impact things in a much bigger way. the other big news worth noting this morning is actually we just learned that imports of oil down to their lowest levels in ten years, and that's a stre good sign because it means we're doing a lot more on our own. and the last piece, people will be focused on apple still, on the front pages, a big push by the activist to get some of that cash but $137 billion cash pile they have back in the hands of investors. back to you. >> andrew, thank you. there's no escaping the weather story. >> never. >> never, never. next, king of the hill.

freshman senator angus king on questioning cia nominee john brennan, plus, the policy fights ahead on capitol hill. plus, colbert in congress. why the comedian is buttering up democrats today. mom always got good nutrition to taste great. she was a picky eater. well now i'm her dietitian and last year, she wasn't eating so well. so i recommended boost complete nutritional drink to help her get the nutrition she was missing. and now she drinks it every day. well, it tastes great! [ male announcer ] boost has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones, and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. and our great taste is guaranteed or your money back. learn more at boost.com [ dietitian ] now, nothing keeps mom from doing what she loves... being my mom.

i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios

that's not much, you think. except it's 2% every year. go to e-trade and find out how much our advice and guidance costs. spoiler alert: it's low. it's guidance on your terms, not ours. e-trade. less for us. more for you. the blizzard that's bearing down on new england is the kind that hasn't been seen in decades. maybe ever. in rhode island snow is expected to fall at a rate of 3 inches an hour later tonight. nbc's ron mott is there live for us in provprovidence. i see it's coming down. how are folks getting ready for the big storm? >> reporter: coming down. you mentioned 3 inches an hour. we expect that in the afternoon. right now we're just on the front end of the storm so we're getting flurries now. it started snowing about an hour ago. we're at the capitol. it's on the grass.

there's very little to no traffic downtown which is a good thing, a lot of folks heeding the warnings to stay off the roads. some of them may be trying to get the last-minute supplies. shovels, batteries and flashlights and that sort of thing. come noon, they want everyone off the roads to allow public works to get the salt trucks to get that base down before we really start to see the snow come down. one of the things people are really, really concerned about, chris, is the wind that we're expect to ing to get off the co. 60 to 70 mi-mile-an-hour wind gusts. a lot of trees, once the heavy snow gets on them, could start collapsing and falling on the power lines. if we have widespread power outages, officials are asking people, go light on the candles. hopefully you have flashlights and batteries because the last thing they want to see are widespread fires in the wake of this storm. it's going to be a doozy, chris. >> ron mott, thank you for being there. it's going to get worse before it gets better. i appreciate your reporting. >> you bet. the intelligence community's drone program got its most public airing yet at john

brennan's confirmation hearing. now lawmakers are moving forward to ensure they have a say in future operations. maine's independent senator angus king is a member of the senate init tell generatelligen and joins me now. thank you for making time on this friday. let me start, we had senator wyden. he said it was a good first step in terms of moving toward more transparency from the obama administration regarding the drone program. you agree with that assessment? was it enough or is more needed to be done? >> well, i think obviously it's a very important issue we have to it continue to discuss, and i wanted to start with the idea that yesterday's hearing was pretty remarkable. it's a great country that can have an issue of that delicacy with lots of different points of view aired in public with senators of different points of view asking questions. i thought john brennan did a good job. he was very straightforward.

i got the feeling he was giving us the answers that were what he really thought and believed. he wasn't playing games with words so, yeah, i think there's going to be a lot of work. i mean, this is a new technique of warfare. and it's something that we have to try to figure out how do we do it judiciously? the other thing we have to think about is we're not going to be the only people on the planet that have this technology indefinitely and what we're doing now, in a sense, is setting precedence for how this kind of warfare is going to be conducted in the future. so it's an important moment. >> now i talked to senator wyden about it, but i think it's important and i want to ask you, too, how do you keep the administration's commitment, pledge commitment to transparency that, frankly, they have not made as good on as i know many senators including many democrats would like? how do you keep them to that pledge in the absence of something like you pointed out as a pinch point yesterday with a confirmation hearing for john brennan? what do you as a senator do to

try to make sure they adhere to that promise? >> well, there are a couple of things. in the first place, something that i've realized and i'm a new senator on the intelligence committee, that the two intelligence committees are the house and the senate. if you stop and think about it. are the only place that is are really watching the cia and watching the intelligence community. everybody, you guys, the press, the public, knows what's going on at the department of state or the department of commerce or -- but in the intelligence community it's only those two committees. therefore, i think this is an incredible responsibility of us to really pay close attention to what they're doing because, otherwise, the executive is, you know, as i mentioned yesterday, prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner all rolled into one. and in our system of government that's not the way it's supposed to be. there is this whole checks and balances thing. on the other hand, we're talking

about warfare here. and you can't go through a lot of lengthy procedures in the middle of a war, but there may be some middle ground, and that's what we're going to be discussing and, in fact, i had some ideas on that, that i discussed with mr. brennan yesterday. >> senator, you mentioned both middle ground and being relatively new on the hill. now you are someone who is elected as an independent to the senate. you served as an independent when you were the governor of maine. >> right. >> we have issues, guns, immigration on the domestic side, spending and debt on the domestic side as well. where partisan shship seems to still very evident, what's your experience been -- obviously it's a different thing than being a governor, being a senator. what's your experience? i know it's only been a few months but what's your experience been? is compromise and moderation dead in congress or not? >> i don't think so. i see a few blimers. there was a bi-papartisan compromise on the filibuster changes. it didn't go as far as i would

have liked and there were a number of other senators who wanted to take it further, but the process of getting to a solution by negotiation between democratic and republican senators and then between harry reid and mitch mcconnell, that's the way it's supposed to be done. a few days later we had a bipartisan proposal involving immigration. a lot of detailed work to be done, but the structure, the framework was there on 0 a bipartisan basis. so there are possibilities of bipartisanship but on the other hand, this is still a partisan situation. we have a republican house, a split democratically krold senate, democratic president, but if you do the math, chris, if you do the arithmetic, what that really means is nothing is going to happen unless there is some measure of bi-papartisansh and i certainly hope that we're going to be able to get there. >> senator, i want to quickly get you on the big story of the day which is the weather. your state, maine, looks to be in the path of this storm. you're a former governor of the state. you know what a state needs to prepare for an event like this.

can you tell me, what was your biggest worry when you had a big storm headed your way when you served as governor? >> well, in fact, we had a huge storm in 1998. we had an ice storm, which was a very unusual set of meteorological circumstances that resulted in a huge accumulations of ice on trees which brought down the limbs, which brought down the wires, which killed -- we had something like two-thirds of our people with no electricity up to two weeks. and in the wintertime, oil burners don't fire if they don't have electricity, so it sort of snowballed into, pardon, i shouldn't have use that had image, i guess, but it created a dangerous situation. hearing your weather report just now, if this is -- if this turns into wet snow, it particularly along the coast and it's of the volume that they're talking about, the real danger -- of course there's danger on the road, but the real danger is loss of electricity and then getting the bucket trucks and

getting the linemen out to be able to fix these, to get people back on line in terms of electricity because that, as i say, can affect the heat. you put all that together, it's a downright dangerous situation. you want to mobilize. i'm sure the governor is up there mobilizing the national guard. you get your utilities in line. you get your local emergency service. but in the end, the other thing that we did in our big storm in 1998, was mobilize the people. neighbor to name. there aren't enough officials to check in on everybody. so people have to check in on their neighbors. >> senator angus king, thank you for putting on your governor's hat for a little while again. i appreciate your time. >> yes, sir. thank you, chris. some developing news now here. the associated press is reporting the super bowl blackout was caused by a faulty electrical relay device which has now been removed, right on time. it was announced today they have traced the cause of sunday's outage to a device installed to

protect the superdome equipment in the event of a cable failure. best laid plans. we've got a super sized gaggle here next to wrap up the week and preview the president's state of the union address. in a programming note, this sunday on "meet the press" exclusive interviews with eric cantor and illinois senator dick durbin. but first, the white house soup of the day is, drum roll please, tomato basil. i would prefer something a little more hearty but i don't get to pick it. don't forget to check out our website, rundown.msnbc.com. [ male announcer ] you know that guy that's got a ham radio in his basement. he can talk to china, mongolia and all the koreas and he eats velveeta shells and cheese. so who are you calling amateur? liquid gold. eat like that guy you know. how dowe get doing...olished room and make it shine? ...with a store full of ways to get it done.

we can all throw on our work clothes... ...and throw out any doubt. because right now's the time to take those rooms from... ..."think i can do this?" to... ..."let me show you what i just did." more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. outsmart your budget with this ashland vanity, a special buy at $299. tell me you have good insurance. yup, i've got... [ voice of dennis ] ...allstate. really? i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. nope, i've got... [ voice of dennis ] the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance -- and you still get an allstate agent. i too have... [ voice of dennis ] allstate. [ normal voice ] same agent and everything. it's like we're connected. no we're not. yeah, we are. no, we're not. ♪ ask an allstate agent about the value plan. are you in good hands? we create easy-to-use, powerful trading tools for all. look at these streaming charts! they're totally customizable

and they let you visualize what might happen next. that's genius! we knew you needed a platform that could really help you elevate your trading. so we built it. chances of making this? it's a lot easier to find out if a trade is potentially profitable. just use our trade & probability calculator and there it is. for all the reasons you trade options - from income to risk management to diversification - you'll have the tools to get it done. strategies. chains. positions. we put 'em all on one screen! could we make placing a trade any easier? mmmm...could we? around here, options are everything. yes mom, i'll place a long call to you tomorrow. i promise. open an account today and get a free 13-month eibd™ subscription when you call 1-888-280-0159 now. optionsxpress by charles schwab.

president obama will deliver what could be his most important state of the union address on tuesday when he speaks for the first time before both chambers of congress since his re-election. let's bring in our gaggle to

talk about it, from the centers for american progress, the washington examiner's susan, from the national review jim garrity and nbc white house correspondent kristen welker. kristen, let's start with you. a little birdie told me you have a little state of the union address news. >> reporter: a little bit of news coming out of the white house this morning, chris. the white house looking at this speech as really the president's best chance to map out what he hopes to accomplish not just in the four years but what he is hoping to aim over the next year, year and a half. his best chance to get some of those larger policy initiatives passed like immigration control, stiffer gun control laws. i am being told this morning that the economy will be a key focus of the president's state of the union address. of course that is still the big issue with the unemployment rate 7.9%, and we just got that gdp report that showed the economy contracted in the fourth quarter. just to take you behind the scenes here a little bit, chris, i am told the president has a strong working draft at this point. his staff has worked hard to

make sure that his schedule you was kept light, specifically in the evening this week so that he could work on his state of the union address. at this point in time he doesn't have anything on his schedule this weekend so he can dedicate his time to working on final tweaks and practicing. and i'm also told this morning, chris, that as is tradition, he will be hitting the road in the days after the state of the union to sell his message. >> the selling of the state of the union. okay. >> yes. >> guys, i want to talk about this with chrkristen, the econo. we probably shouldn't be terribly surprised about but, danielle, let's start with you. the inaugural speech was fascinating in that it was more of a nuts and bolts speech -- he talked about gay marriage. he talked about medicaid and social security, he talked about climate change. he didn't really talk that much about the economy. so, i guess not terribly surprising that this state of the union speech talks about it. >> right, no, not at all. you can look at the inauguration address as sort of a preview to the state of the union, if you

will. so i'm not surprised they will focus on the economy because even if things are getting bett better, they will be the first to acknowledge that there are still steps they want to put in place to get more people back to work. >> fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling, immigration he said there's room but, look, republicans need to get religion on this. do you expect a similar tone in the state of the union? >> he has a limited amount of time. they feel they have a so-called m mandate from their victory not losing the senate. i think it's kind of full speed ahead for the president right now. he's going to go as bold as he can go, limited amount of time. i think i disagree a little bit on the economy. i think it's a course correction for him. i feel he's maybe second-guessing, not talking about the economy during his inaugural speech, now maybe i should have talked about that. >> which is fascinating because if you look at the first term in

a lot of ways, you know, he started off -- you had a republican party that was largely kind of in the doldrums and he started off with economic stimulus and health care which united the party in some way. is he -- is he smart to refocus on the economy, jim? >> yes. >> and probably the more important question, is there actually -- we had angus king on saying there's common ground. is there common ground on big things? >> you saw the working group on background checks for gun control. you saw coburn and schumer. you saw the gang of eight trying to come together with immigration. it will be very interesting if obama hints he could endorse whatever they come out of. i should point out when marco rubio and chuck shchumer descrie the same legislation, this is very different. everyone feels the elephant differently. >> chrkristen, what, if anythin does the white house -- have they given any indication, you

said the selling of it. we know he only went to swing states during the last couple of years because of his re-election. this is different. this is more about barack obama, sort of his legacy, what he leaves as his legacy. do we have any sense of where he's going and what the sort of selling points will be at? >> reporter: well, the white house is being very mum about that point. we're hoping to get more details about where specifically he's going to go throughout the day. but, of course, what i can tell you, chris, on any given day, he will probably be highlighting different aspects of his state of the union address, whether it be immigration one day, gun control another day and then, of course, the economy. and i heard you talking about common ground. i can tell you, i've been ta talking to some of my republican sources this morning who say they will be listening very closely to this speech to see if the president draws any hard lines, specifically as they enter these final weeks and they fight over the sequester about how to try to stave off those deep spending cuts that are set to go into effect on march 1.

that's what they're going to be listening to in this speech. >> danielle, let me come back to you and we'll come back with all. you after the break, but is there an order, a preferred order that the democratic base, liberals and the party, would like to see president obama go about these issues? we have immigration, guns, and sort of the sequester of debt and spending all out there. is there a preferred sort of menu? >> i think within certain groups, certainly, like immigration activists. >> they want gun control. >> exactly. but, no, i think people just want to see things get done and they realize that the president and congress can walk and chew gum at the same time. they want to see action. >> that theory will be tested. >> it will indeed. >> we'll see. trivia time. we asked how many women acted as first lady but were not married to the president of the united states? the answer to that is five. patsy jefferson randolph who was thomas jefferson's daughter, emily donaldson who is andrew jackson's niece, angelica van

buren was martin van buren's daughter-in-l daughter-in-law. harrit lane, and mary arthur mcelroy. who? chester arthur's sister. thanks to c-span, as always, for inspiring that question. their special series on first ladies, which i have already set my dvr to tape premieres in ten days. we will be right back. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

let's bring back the gaggle. susan, i want to start with you. look, i can't get enough of hillary clinton. i'll just admit it.

hillary clinton favorable, 61. unfavorable, 34. how does that compare to joe biden? 46/41. she's more popular than anyone else on this list. that's not surprising. >> people have been talking about her as a presidential candidate since the day after 2008. when things weren't going good for barack obama they said, we could have elected hillary clinton. these are polls and they will always come down. >> she knows, right, jim -- she's been in this game long enough. as soons as she announces, some of those numbers drop. >> yes. recently paul ryan said, if we elected hillary clinton in 2008, the problems would be solved by

now. she would be ever bit as bad. >> stunning advice. i want to talk about stephen colbert. bill clinton, joe biden. you know, they had a hearing with steve stephen colbert. this guy is an entertainer. >> that's fine. democrats want to be entertained as well. they like to laugh. it's good to lighten things up every now and then and bring a perspective, even if it's a different perspective. >> star power, bill clinton and stephen colbert in the same room together. >> reporter: certainly going to be star power, no doubt about that. stephen colbert has been having a lot of fun with the fact that his sister is running for a congressional seat in south carolina. i expect we're going to hear a lot more about that moving forward. >> i don't know who is more

famous, stephen colbert or bill clinton. >> my son was named the anti-bullyi anti-bullying campaigner in his class. >> how the media helped president obama win the election. >> he now owes you. >> my colleague is doing great reportering on the ground about gun shows, gun legislation. >> kristen welker? >> reporter: i will be covering the white house all day and i'll have updates object the state of the union address. >> sad note, my wife's uncle passed away this week suddenly. we're thinking of you. that's it for this edition "the

daily rundown." chuck will see you right back here on monday and msnbc have special coverage starting on tuesday and will go all the way through late night, 1:00 a.m. coming up next, it's chris "jansing & co." push-ups or sprints? what's wrong with fetch? or chase? let's do this larry! ooh, i got it, i got it! (narrator) the calorie-smart nutrition in beneful healthy weight... includes grains and real chicken, because a healthy dog is a playful dog. beneful healthy weight. find us on facebook to help put more play in your day.